Maria-Antonietta Buccheri

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems IMM

Anodic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes were found to be highly active photocatalysts which can be used as templates for further modification in order to tailor their photocatalytic activity for a specific application. These photocatalysts possess a high surface area despite being supported, making them suitable candidates for water treatment as n...

Photocatalysis has long been touted as one of the most promising technologies for environmental remediation. The ability of photocatalysts to degrade a host of different pollutants, especially recalcitrant molecules, is certainly appealing. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been used extensively for this purpose. Anodic oxidation allows for the synthesis...

The application of titanium oxide nanotubes for the removal of contaminants from freshwater is a rapidly growing scientific interest, especially when it comes to water conservation strategies. In this study we employed four different titanium oxide nanotube surfaces, prepared by a two-electrode anodic oxidation. Two of the surfaces were synthesised...

This work attempt to produce photocatalytic surfaces for large-scale applications by depositing nanostructured coatings on a polymeric substrate. The authors have prepared ZnO/poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composites by low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) of ZnO on PMMA substrates. In addition, in order to increase the photocatalytic...

High Throughput Sequencing technologies are providing unprecedented inventories of microbial communities in aquatic samples, offering an invaluable tool to estimate the impact of anthropogenic pressure on marine communities. In this case study, the Mediterranean touristic site of Aci Castello (Italy) was investigated by High Throughput Sequencing o...

We examined different Xenorhabdus strains (five of X. bovienii and two of X. kozodoii), obtained from EPN isolates belonging to the genus Steinernema (S. feltiae, S. ichnusae, S. apuliae, S. vulcanicum) of different geographic origin by both genotypic and phenotypic analysis. Common laboratory assays were done for traits such as antibiotic resistan...

Workshop overview: In the closing session of the Vitae Conference 2017, Prof. Katia Levecque highlighted that PhD candidates in Flanders experience psychological distress and that the prevalence of developing a common psychiatric disorder was 2.43 times higher in PhD candidates compared to the similar cohort of highly educated people in the general...

TiO2 nanotubes demonstrated to be a versatile nanostructure for biomaterials, clean energy and water remediation applications. However, the cost of titanium and the poor mechanical properties of the nanotubes hinder their adoption at large scale. This work presents a straightforward and scalable method for transferring photoactive anodic TiO2 nanot...

The antibacterial activity and possible toxicity of graphene oxide and laser-irradiated graphene oxide (iGO) were investigated. Antibacterial activity was tested on Escherichia coli and shown to be higher for GO irradiated for at least three hours, which seems to be correlated to the resulting morphology of laser-treated GO and independent of the k...

The effect of the nanoparticles on the marine organisms, depends on their size, chemical composition, surface structure, solubility and shape. In order to take advantage from their activity, preserving the surrounding environment from a possible pollution, we are trying to trap the nanoparticles into new nanomaterials. The nanomaterials tested were...

The effect of the nanoparticles on the marine organisms, depends on their size, chemical composition, surface structure, solubility and shape. In order to take advantage from their activity, preserving the surrounding environment from a possible pollution, we are trying to trap the nanoparticles into new nanomaterials. The nanomaterials tested were...

In this study we employed hydrogen peroxide etching of Ti films as a straightforward method to synthesize hydrogenated TiO2 nanoplumes. The material was extensively characterized, showing, among other special features, the inclusion of OH groups. These groups together with the generated structural defects and the nanostructuration are crucial for t...

Today, one of the biggest problems of humanity is the inadequate access to clean water. For this reason, much effort is devoted to study new effective methods of purifying water, efficiently, at low cost and with less energy. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) plays a central role in energy and environmental research. Several methods have been developed for t...

In this work, we present polymeric nanocomposites as valid systems for water treatment. This new class of materials has attracted extensive attention in the recent years in several fields of science and technology, because they join structural flexibility and relatively simple processing of the polymers with the properties of the nanomaterials, suc...

This work presents an experimental study on the specific quantitative contributions of antireflective and effective surface areas on the photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of rutile TiO2 nanospikes. They are studied when continuously distributed over the whole surface and when integrated into well-defined microstructures. The nanospikes we...

To investigate the effects of different methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T gene polymorphism and hyperhomocysteinemia for the development of renal failure and cardiovascular events, which are controversial. We challenged the relationship, if any, of MTHFR 677C>T and MTHFR 1298A>C polymorphisms with renal and heart function. The pres...

We propose a ground-breaking approach by an upside-down vision of the Au/TiO2 nano-system in order to obtain an enhanced photocatalytic response. The system was synthesized by wrapping Au nanoparticles (8 nm mean diameter) with a thin layer of TiO2 (4 nm thick). The novel idea of embedding Au nanoparticles with titanium dioxide takes advantage of t...

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is related to unhealthy habits, mainly to unfavorable dietary profiles. MTHFR gene encodes MethyleneTetraHydroFolate Reductase, a regulatory enzyme whose polymorphisms are associated with hyperhomocysteinemia. Among polymorphisms, C677T, a thermolabile form, but not A1298C, thermostable, was associated with...

Fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) is the principal ameliorating factor of β-thalassemia (β-thal) and sickle cell disease. Persistent production in adult life is a quantitative trait regulated by loci inside or outside the β-globin gene cluster. From genome-wide association studies, principal quantitative trait loci (QTL) (accounting for 50.0% of Hb F variabi...

Background: Association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T gene polymorphism with hyperhomocysteinemia, renal failure, and cardiovascular events is controversial. We investigated the relationship of MTHFR 677C>T polymorphisms with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and renal insufficiency. Methods: Glomerular filtration rate (...

RNA interference was the first regulation by small RNA to be described in detail. It was initially identified in C. elegans as a sequence-specific post-transcriptional silencing induced by double stranded RNA. There are two main steps in the process, the cleavage of long double stranded RNA molecules into small interfering RNA of about twenty nucle...

RNA interference was the first regulation by small RNA to be described in detail. It was initially identified in C. elegans as a sequence-specific post-transcriptional silencing induced by double stranded RNA. There are two main steps in the process, the cleavage of long double stranded RNA molecules into small interfering RNA of about twenty nucle...

Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) has been implicated in the control of blood glucose by its potent effect on expression and signaling of various nuclear receptors. To understand the role of COUP-TFII in glucose homeostasis, conditional COUP-TFII-deficient mice were generated and crossed with mice expressing Cr...